


no worries, we still have time

by PenelopeJadewing



Series: fictober 2018 [7]
Category: Naruto, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Gen, Mineta is a trash bag, Naruto distracts him, Sasuke's giving himself a pep talk, but he's probably the only friend Naruto had, get better friends, in middle school anyway, poor naruto, practical exams, time to move on son
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-27 22:20:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16228472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PenelopeJadewing/pseuds/PenelopeJadewing
Summary: Sasuke's just trying to get in the zone before the practical exams. His admittance into UA depends on having a calm mind and clear focus. An obnoxiously loud blond seems determined to keep him from his inner zen, however, and for once it isn't Bakugou.





	no worries, we still have time

Victory.

He can picture it. He keeps his eyes closed, mind quiet, mind’s eye conjuring a score board and his name scaling up a ladder of others he doesn’t know or care about. They don’t matter, not in this moment. Right here, right now, there are no others, no friends, no life beyond this space. This space is all-encompassing, all that exists. He puts up walls between him and the Outside, him and the ordinary, the mediocre and commonplace. He’s above it all.

There’s no room for the everyman in the U.A. entrance exams.

So he must be More.

He takes a deep breath. Any second, an alarm will pierce the tense silence, the gates will open, the Practical will begin. Every nerve in his body buzzes with impulse, the world encroaching upon his senses. Every sound is louder, every color brighter, the smell of sweat and fear poignant to distraction. He lets himself feel it, breathe it in. This is his world.

His hands clench in his insulated gloves, palms damp, fingers twitching. He runs a mental catalog of his equipment, everything that took him hours of Hell-sent paperwork just to get the proper authorization. Hook, stunner, specs—he tried to cover all his bases in his designs, without going overboard. He couldn’t bring everything, only enough to make his chances even with everyone else. His Quirk, after all, is best suited for evasion, not offense. And against enemies like these, he needs something to give him an edge, or else he’ll miss the mark required to enter the Hero Course and fall short into General Education.

He can’t let that happen.

“Why do you get all that stuff?”

Sasuke opens his eyes. The voice is too close, to his left, raspy and pitched with a signature whine that promises an unpleasant confrontation with an idiot. There always seems to be something in the voice, he can tell whether or not somebody’s going to be worth the breath. This person will not be. He glances sidelong, taking in the source of his sudden distraction.

A prospective first-year, like him, by the looks of him. Shaggy blond hair, startlingly blue eyes, delicate whiskers hanging from his cheeks. A mutant? The boy models a garish caution-orange windbreaker, navy capri pants, and worn-out sandals. Not exactly a Hero’s wardrobe. In fact, he looks more like a poster child for Goodwill. Give him a bucket for donations and he’s all set.

What’s a kid like this doing here?

Blue eyes narrow at Sasuke’s lengthy silence. “Hey, I’m talkin’ to you! How’s come you get to wear all that fancy get-up?”

Not worth the breath indeed. But if he remains completely silent, this vagabond might not shut up, and that will risk Sasuke’s focus. Any moment now, those gates will part and it’ll be a mad dash for the top spot—

“I turned in the forms,” Sasuke answers curtly, turning away his gaze in favor of staring blankly ahead.

“Hey Uzumaki,” questions another new voice with a notable lisp and Sasuke internally groans. He doesn’t want to make small talk, not now. Can’t they see everybody else is just trying to concentrate? To achieve the proper headspace? But no, a dwarf of a kid steps around the others ahead of him, crowned with a head of the strangest purple hair Sasuke’s ever seen. The tiny boy approaches the blond—Uzumaki, apparently—with a quizzical tilt of his head, a wide-eyed appraisal of Sasuke from head to toe. “Who’d you find?”

“Lookit this gear, Mineta,” Uzumaki whines once more, the sound grating on Sasuke’s eardrums. “It’s not fair, I tell ya! Why don’t we all get cool gadgets ‘n stuff?”

“I dunno.” Mineta narrows his eyes. “If you need this kind of equipment just for practicals… maybe his Quirk is just super weak.”

Sasuke’s eyebrows twitch lower. Tactless morons. He clicks his tongue. “If the two of you are finished talking about me like I’m not here, I’d appreciate it if you left me in peace. The test is about to start and I’m trying to focus. Which is what you would be doing if you had any brains at all.”

Uzumaki scoffs. “You’re a real jerk, aren’tcha?”

“No worries, we still have time,” Mineta shrugs before stuffing his hands in his tiny pockets. “I’ve pretty much got this in the bag, so the only person at risk of failing here is you. What school did you say you were from?”

Sasuke closes his eyes again, determined to shut them out. He doesn’t have time for this. “I didn’t say.”

“What’s you’re name?”

“Does it matter?”

“Sure does, ‘cause I’ll be watching for your name at the bottom of the scoreboard.”

“P*** off, pint-size,” Sasuke spits. Does this pipsqueak really think he stands a chance? What kind of Quirk does he have, for him to possess such confidence in a crowd of students all just shooting to be deemed worthy to attend the most prestigious Hero school in Japan? Arrogance. It has to be. Anyone with a basic level of intelligence wouldn’t place so much stock in their own competence, not with the board and game rules so new to them.

This is why Sasuke needs quiet. He just wants them to disappear, leave him alone…

“Watch it, you punk!” In response to his insult, Uzumaki leans close, fists raised, but doesn’t touch him. His voice might as well be loud enough to pack the force of a high-speed brick wall, though, considering how much it makes Sasuke want to grimace. He’s louder than Bakugou and that’s a feat of impossible proportions right there. “You can’t talk to my friend like that!”

“Sure I can. It’s obvious you two aren’t even here for the right reasons—to envy those around you and sabotage their chances at victory?” Sasuke snorts derisively. “You don’t belong in a school for Heroes. Your priorities are skewed.”

“Big talk coming from a guy who needs an arsenal of support equipment just to stand a chance,” Mineta fires back, and it irks Sasuke to no end that the little a** actually makes some sense, compared to his companion, though he is terribly off-base. He’s severely underestimating Sasuke, and Sasuke will make sure he eats his words once all is said and done.

“Come on, guys, lay off.” It’s a girl’s voice this time. From Sasuke’s right. A shock of pink hair enters his peripheral. “He’s right. Focus on yourselves and save the trash talk for later. We’ll all be lucky if we actually pass these exams.”

“Ha! Pervy Sage says there’s no way I can lose if I can just keep a lid on my Quirk, so I have nothing to worry about, Sakura-chan!” Uzumaki plants his hands on his hips like somebody might whip out a camera at any moment. Sasuke’s vaguely reminded of All Might and his mood sours exponentially at the mental comparison. What a loser to have to compare to the Number One Hero…

“That’s a really big ‘if.’ And use my surname, stupid,” the girl—Sakura? How droll—pouts.

“Oh, yeah…”

“Pervy Sage does not go wrong,” Mineta finishes with a sagely nod. “I’d stake my life on his word alone.”

“I’ll be just like him, one day. Believe it!” Uzumaki crows, fist in the air.

“Ugh, sickos…” The girl shudders.

The low-tier threesome dissolves into shameless bickering amongst themselves. They seem familiar enough with one another; most likely from the same middle school or neighborhood. Good for them. They can all lose together. Deciding to waste no more time, Sasuke just plants one foot ahead of the other and walks away without a second glance. Hopefully, the idiots are distracted enough by each other that they’ll leave him in peace. He can’t afford any more distraction, not when it feels like the starting time will drop at any-

A siren blares. The gates swing in on silent hinges. Sasuke takes a breath.

S***. He got distracted.

The crowd of students surges forward and Sasuke falls in line with them. Through the gates they march, into a faux city of gargantuan proportions, a city within a city, designed to disorient and loaded for bear with advanced robotics meant to serve as Villains. Indeed, his Quirk would struggle against them.

But he has a plan. He takes a breath, soaking in the focus he feels taught in the air around him from his peers and fellow hopefuls. Yes… he has a plan. All he needs now… is a partner.

He can do this. He has to be smart, quick, exceptional. Outstanding. He has to close his eyes, to see it happening. It’s so close, he can almost taste it, and he’s not about to let anybody, much less a ragtag trio of B-listers, stand in his way. U.A. looms in his mind, the path forward, toward his ultimate goal of ultimate Justice. It’s up to him now. All he has to do is reach out and take hold of it.

There is nothing else. This moment is all that matters. This moment, and what lies ahead…

Victory.  


End file.
